Chapter 462 - 437: The Subsequent Realm

Lu Yan suddenly realized that the Thunder Sword had drifted here from some other place two or three thousand years ago.

Two or three thousand years ago, there were no longer any masters in this world.

"Before... Jin Ming, then above the Nine Layer Heaven, are there other weapons floating around?"

Lu Yan asked, his heart burning with eagerness.

"There are, but very few, and most of them have no spirit left, no power either. Those with spirit preserved are extremely rare, and it’s not so easy to find one."

"In fact, we are all just losers, defeated warriors."

Jin Ming sighed.

Lu Yan’s mind raced, "I heard that this sea area was once a battlefield, where a terrible war broke out. It’s possible that another terrible war will erupt. Can you tell me what happened?"

"Actually, my knowledge is limited. All I know is that it was a war for a place to survive. The Origin World has always existed from time immemorial, with outstanding people and spirit-enhancing land, offering excellent conditions for cultivation. Beyond the Origin, in the boundless cosmos and myriad worlds, cycles occur, rising and falling, until one day they reach the end, entering The End of the Dharma Era. Those cultivators, those powerful beings, must find new ground to stand on."

"Since the Origin World is unchanging, it naturally becomes the focal point for contention."

Jin Ming said.

Lu Yan wanted to ask for more details, but Jin Ming said that in his time, he and his master were of average strength among the myriad worlds. They didn’t know much, and he had suffered a heavy blow. His artifact spirit nearly dispersed back then, and it was with great difficulty that he had recovered a bit. His memory was incomplete, so he couldn’t provide more information.

But Lu Yan’s heart was still not at peace, and from Jin Ming’s words, he deduced many things.

"Right, that Thunder Bull..."

Lu Yan said.

"I was just about to tell you, let that Thunder Bull go. It’s not like those thunder snakes. Even if you kill it, it won’t help your cultivation level much."

Jin Ming said.

"Useless? I thought the Thunder Bull was similar to those thunder snakes."

Lu Yan said, somewhat disappointed.

"Different. The Thunder Bull was not nurtured by my power. It is a piece of thunder stone that drifted down from the Nine Layer Heaven, met me, and followed me. After tens of thousands of years, it was finally born."

Jin Ming explained.

"Jin Ming, I won’t kill it. Let it come out; I want to talk to it."

Lu Yan said.

"Alright."

The Thunder Sword glowed, and the Thunder Bull appeared.

Upon seeing Lu Yan, the Thunder Bull’s tail stood up, lightning crackled off it, its bull eyes widened, and it turned to run.

The Thunder Bell fell, suppressing the Thunder Bull within.

"Moo..."

The Thunder Bull was shocked, its hooves stamped on the Thunder Bell, making a huge noise, and the bell bulged out, nearly exploding.

"Such strong power..."

Lu Yan was startled, and with a thought, the Big Tree Phantom Image appeared.

"Stop, I won’t kill you, but if you attack again, I’ll give you a thrashing."

Lu Yan shouted loudly.

The Thunder Bull was clearly very wary of the Big Tree Phantom Image and immediately stopped its hooves, looking pitifully at the Thunder Sword and mooing as if seeking its help.

"No need to call out. Jin Ming has already sided with me, so you might as well join in. Don’t worry, I won’t touch you. Staying with me, you’re guaranteed to live the good life, ten times better than now..."

Lu Yan began to lure it with promises.

After Lu Yan’s persuasive eloquence, along with the Thunder Sword’s urging, the Thunder Bull finally believed and nodded, agreeing to follow Lu Yan.

"The Thunder Bull has a special function, it can help refine Spiritual Treasures. Let the Thunder Bull stay in your Spiritual Treasure a bit longer, it can improve the quality of your treasure."

Jin Ming said.

Lu Yan’s eyes lit up, not expecting that the Thunder Bull had such a function.

"Thunder Bull, from now on, just stay in the Thunder Bell, you two should get to know each other well..."

Lu Yan said.

Moo...

The Thunder Bull expressed its objection; it wanted to stay with the Thunder Sword.

But Lu Yan glared, and the Thunder Bull had to give in.

Its support, the Thunder Sword, had already turned to Lu Yan. What other choice did it have?

It could only enter the Thunder Bell obediently.

"Let’s go."

Lu Yan, holding the Thunder Sword, dived downwards, returning to the Da Wu Royal Palace.

Inside the Practice Room.

The Thunder Sword floated above Lu Yan’s head.

"Lu Yan, although I cannot help you quickly raise your Cultivation Level, my interior contains the Tao of Thunder. If you can comprehend just a trace, your understanding of the Rule of Thunder will surely advance by leaps and bounds."

Jin Ming said.

"The Tao of Thunder?"

Lu Yan wondered.

"In the Origin World, the most basic elements that constitute the world are the Rules: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, rain, ice, and so on. And above the Rules is the Principle, also known as the Doctrine."

"If the Rules are considered the foundation of the Origin World, then the Doctrine is the pillar holding up the world; it’s profound and unfathomable."

"Those in the Immortal Realm mainly cultivate Rule Power, whereas those in the Tao Realm specialize in cultivating the Principle, the Doctrine of heaven and earth."

Jin Ming explained.

"Above the Immortal Realm is the Tao Realm? Then above the Tao Realm, is there another realm? How many realms are there in total?"

Lu Yan pursued further.

"Of course there are."

Jin Ming answered, "Immortal Ninth Layer, Tao Seventh Layer, Creator Realm in three steps, and Wan Fa converging to the True One."

"Above the Primordial Spirit, there are a total of four realms: Immortal Realm, Tao Realm, Creator Realm, and True One State. Among them, the Immortal Realm is divided into Nine Layer Heaven—that is, nine minor realms. The Tao Realm has a total of seven layers, and the Creator Realm comprises three steps. And above them all is the True One State, which is the realm of legends. In the Origin World, including the boundless starry sky and all the worlds, they are few and far between, countable on one’s fingers. Each one is a legend, a myth, epitomizing invincibility and defeatlessness,"

Jin Ming explained.

"The four great realms?"

A look of yearning appeared in Lu Yan’s eyes.

After chatting with Jin Ming for a moment, Lu Yan’s Primordial Spirit flew out and entered the Thunder Sword.

Inside the Thunder Sword, it was incredibly spacious—a vast space, multiples larger than the Sumi Mustard Seed Bag.

Above the space, a gigantic bolt of lightning spanned the void, connecting the two ends of the Thunder Sword.

The lightning was extremely thick and pervaded with a terrifying presence; Lu Yan felt an immense pressure and discovered that in front of this huge bolt of lightning, he was unable to mobilize the Rule of Thunder.

"This is the Great Tao of Thunder, in layman’s terms. More accurately, it’s the Principle of Thunder; of course, it belongs to the lesser principles. Originally, it ran through the Thunder Sword. What a pity that the Thunder Sword is broken, and the Principle of Thunder is incomplete, but it is still far superior to the Rule of Thunder,"

Jin Ming commented, then saw that more than a dozen bolts of lightning were dancing in the air, moving to and fro. At first glance, they looked a little like tiny thunder serpents.

Of course, that’s just an appearance; they are not the same substance.

"These are fragments of the principle. You can directly capture them and merge them into your Primordial Spirit, experiencing the principle at close quarters, which can cause your Rule of Thunder to advance by leaps and bounds,"

Jin Ming said.

"Thank you."

Lu Yan clasped his fists in thanks, and with a thought, the Big Tree Phantom Image flew out, its roots extended rapidly, entwined a fragment of the principle, and pulled it into the Primordial Spirit.

Boom!

In an instant, a roaring sound emerged from Lu Yan’s mind, as if the heavens and the earth were being split apart.

He felt as if he were in the boundless void.

In that void, a vast and boundless bolt of thunder spanned across, comparable to a world in itself—like a long river of thunder, passing through the ages, immortal and unending.

He watched this river of thunder intently. The mysteries of ’thunder and lightning’ became clearer and clearer in his eyes.

His understanding of the Rule of Thunder deepened continuously.

A day later, Lu Yan came out of this state and captured a second fragment of the Principle of Thunder, which he then assimilated into his Primordial Spirit for contemplation.

According to Jin Ming, the Principle of Thunder within the Thunder Sword could be controlled by him, becoming gentle. If it were the natural Principle of Thunder, it must not be approached so, otherwise one would not even know how they died.

The effects of doing so were naturally astonishing.

On just the second day, Lu Yan’s Rule of Thunder took a significant step forward, breaking through to the Seventh Void.

On the fourth day, his Rule of Thunder stepped into the Seventh Void.

And on the ninth day, the Rule of Thunder made great progress, breaking the shackles and surpassing the limits, achieving completion.

Lu Yan had mastered the complete Rule of Thunder.

With a thought, the Thunder Sword flew into his Sea of Consciousness, and Lu Yan’s physical body opened his eyes, the Rule of Thunder joyously circling around him. His body had countless tiny bolts of lightning traveling through it, intertwining together to form a set of thunder battle armor.

Although obtaining the Thunder Sword did not help his Cultivation Level break through to Primordial Spirit Eighth Transformation, the Rule of Thunder had achieved a tremendous improvement, and his combat powers had still increased significantly.

Having mastered the complete Rule of Thunder, it was as if he had half a step into the Primordial Spirit Eighth Transformation already.

As long as his soul’s power rose, the breakthrough would come naturally.

This rate of advancement even astonished Jin Ming, who repeatedly called it unexpected.

Merging with the fragments of the principle up close certainly accelerated the comprehension of the Rule of Thunder, causing it to advance rapidly.

But not usually this fast.

This couldn’t simply be called a rapid progression anymore.

"Tomorrow is the day of the great battle."

Lu Yan smiled, stepped forward, and left the Practice Room.

A short while later, he met Mr. World, who had already finished crafting the array flags.

"Lu Yan, you..."

Mr. World curiously sized up Lu Yan, feeling that in the mere nine days they hadn’t seen each other, Lu Yan seemed different.

But he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly had changed.

Without employing Rule Power, it is quite difficult to determine one’s true realm.

"Just a slight improvement in the Rule,"

Lu Yan said with a smile, his mind stirring as the Rule of Thunder surged through him.

Mr. World’s eyes bulged in astonishment.

"The complete Rule of Thunder, you..."

Mr. World stammered speechlessly.

In just nine days, the Rule of Thunder had gone from the Fifth Void to becoming complete, and this was called a slight improvement?

"Ahem..."

Mr. World coughed a few times, his complexion returned to normal, and he said, "Not bad, not a bad talent. In my memory, your talent ranks third."

"Third? Then who are the first and second?"

Lu Yan asked curiously.

"The first, naturally, is my master. The second, far in the distance yet right before the eyes,"

Mr. World stood with his hands behind his back, full of pride, his chin pointed skyward.

Lu Yan: "...."

Shortly thereafter, the two of them disguised themselves and quietly left Wangu City, choosing a secluded valley.

With a wave of his hand, several array flags flew out and landed on the ground.

As soon as the array flags touched the ground, they sunk into it and vanished from sight.

Lu Yan paid close attention but found no trace of anything amiss.

"Remember the location. Tomorrow, you’ll lure those two Immortal Clans here, and the trapping array will activate on its own,"

Mr. World instructed.